%% Image moved from main trope page per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1480443627072838100%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.%%[[quoteright:239:[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ff-v-fourthwall.jpg]]]][[caption-width-right:239:Yes, [[YouTalkinToMe they're talkin' to you]]. \\''[[MindScrew And so are we.]]'']]

* The entire ''Franchise/MetalGear'' series is rife with instances of breaking the fourth wall. ** One classic wall-breaking moment in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' is the advice to contact Meryl by codec by looking up her codec frequency on the back of a disc case, a reference to the game's disc case.*** Can't get Meryl's frequency because you threw away the jewel case or lost it? No problem! Contact Colonel times enough and he will give it to you! But, of course, you have to check the Frequency List for it.*** A similar moment appeared in its earlier prequel ''MetalGear2SolidSnake'', where Snake is told to look up a radio frequency on a package, a reference to the game's package.** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', after uploading Emma's virus, the Colonel Campbell construct begins to go haywire and criticizes the player for playing too long and then demands that the player turn off the game.*** The colonel telling the player to switch off his console is a reference to the original MSX game ''MetalGear'', where Big Boss did the same near the end.** Psycho Mantis. During his boss fight you actually have to UNPLUG YOUR CONTROLLER AND PLUG IT INTO THE SECOND CONTROLLER PORT! And, as if this isn't bad enough, until you figure it out, he constantly makes fun of you, comments about the games you've played by reading your memory card and even tells you that he's deleted your memory!*** If you lose a number of times, contact the colonel and he will wonder if your second controller port is malfunctioning or if you just can't change ports (Emulator anyone?), and he will then provide an alternative solution: Shooting off the masks from the busts of Psycho Mantis in the room. As Psycho Mantis hates his own face, that will cause him to lose his focus and stop reading your movements.*** Snake first notices that something is wrong, when all the guards are gone from a corridor, and the [[SorryILeftTheBGMOn Mind Control Music has stopped playing.]]*** When you first encounter Mantis, he decides to demonstrate his power by making your controller vibrate, and tells you to put it down. Snake turns to the camera and nods, as if saying "Go ahead, kid."** When Revolver Ocelot prepares to torture Solid Snake, after explaining how Snake can rapidly press a controller button to recharge his health, he suddenly ''turns away from Snake and toward the player'' before warning that he'll know if you're using an auto-fire controller. [[NonStandardGameOver And he does know.]]** Gray Fox will tell you to keep your controller's vibration on for a phone. He even says it in a cutscene, not a codec.** Also in ''Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty'', Snake tells Raiden not to worry about Snake running out of bullets and points to his headband and knowingly says "[[BottomlessMagazines infinite ammo]]". The player can get a headband that gives them infinite ammo after beating the game.*** ''Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty'' is the TropeNamer of FissionMailed. At one point, the screen flashes white, indicating that Raiden has been killed, but instead of "Mission Failed", the text reads "Fission Mailed", the options read "Emit/Continent" instead of "Exit/Continue", and the action continues in the corner box that normally shows Raiden's cause of death.** ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 4|GunsOfThePatriots}}'' features a fourth-wall breaking moment that advises against the strategy used to beat Psycho Mantis in ''Metal Gear Solid''.*** Another instance of this in ''Metal Gear Solid 4'', is that part way through the game, Otacon will tell you to switch discs. then, when Snake does not find a disc, Otacon remembers that the game is on the [=PS3=], which has dual-layered Blu-Ray discs.* ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'' had some exceptional ones:** One was a rather hilarious {{Woolseyism}} by the translator about the censorship the game had to go through to get released in the West. Gillian, the main character, calls a "Love Line", and the girl tells him that [[MediaWatchdog people are watching everything they say and do]]. When Gillian protests, she asks him, "Haven't you noticed that every time we try to talk about sex, we're restricted to sly innuendo?" He attempts to prove her wrong, but instead makes a lot of ridiculous double-entendres about "greasing her baking tray", much to his horror. He's finally forced to concede she had it right -- in a furious rant, most of the words in which are replaced with "CENSORED".** Gillian can also call the various programmers of the game and get short messages from them, but the only one he can actually talk to is the game's translator. It starts off with casual talk with him and his wife, but after calling him several times, it becomes apparent that [[spoiler: their cat goes out rarely, is a whooping 50+ years old and smells rotten and thus is actually a Snatcher, who proceeds to murder them as Gillian and Metal Gear listen to it in horror. Gillian tries to rush to their aid, but Metal Gear says they can't because such a scenario hasn't been programmed into the game and it'd be better to just forget any of it ever happened. Gillian is relieved and thinks the concept of [[DoubleEntendre "pussy SNATCHERs"]] is ridiculous anyway.]]** At one point, Gillian is allowed to return to his apartment. He cheerfully exclaims, "Wow, I have a home too?" His RobotBuddy, Metal Gear, tells him that he's being silly, to which he sullenly responds, 'I was just trying to make it more exciting for people playing the game.'** During the prologue, there's a very elegant one. Gillian and Metal are in a factory, and Metal remarks that it can hear a sound. Gillian complains that he can't, so Metal tells him to turn the volume up on the TV. The ticking turns out to be a bomb, which soon explodes, Gillian escaping just in time. He stands up, staggeringly, and complains, "My ears are ringing." Snippily, Metal replies, "That's because you left the volume turned up."* Unsurprisingly, ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'' also follows the trend in one scene, where Jonathan and Ed have to defuse a bomb by sliding a magnetic piece through a maze. Failure results in a NonStandardGameOver...from which continuing results in a conversation between Jonathan and Ed both [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain telling each other to pretend their prior deaths didn't actually happen]]. Fail more times, and Ed offers to do it instead...which ends in an EpicFail that Jonathan mocks him for upon continuing. Continuing after this point results in the maze changing (to a significantly-harder layout) before Jonathan's eyes, which Ed flat-out admits is the game's doing due to failing so many times. Fail ''that'' maze some more, and it'll change once again into an extremely-easy maze—which Ed complains that he could easily do if it had been that easy for him.* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', the audience participates in "Scarecrow" sequences in which Scarecrow injects Batman with terror gas that makes him see things. In one of these sequences, the audience is confronted with the screen that appears upon an in-game death, only to find out that it is part of the Scarecrow sequence. Hell, it looks like ''the game crashes.'' Scarecrow went from screwing with Batman to screwing with ''the player.''* "VideoGame/PonyIsland" being a game inside a game has this in spades.* Since ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheCuriousVillage'', the tutorials are all about this, as Layton tells you how to move and save the game as if he knows you're there.--> "If you want to move, just tap on the shoe."** Also, in ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheMiracleMask'', in the Bonus Scene after entering the code from Spectre's Call/Last Spectre, Emmy and Luke break the Fourth Wall by speaking to the audience, later getting told by Inspector Grosky that they need a permit to do so.** In ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVsAceAttorney'',[[spoiler: An in-universe 4th wall is broken in Labyrinthia, where it's all a just a play to stop Espella from constantly believing that she's the Great Witch Bezella and the magic is caused by special effects created by brainwashing.]] Also, the characters in the Special Episodes constantly break the 4th Wall by speaking to the audience, with Maya referring to them as an "Avid Video Game Player." They also discuss things about the game being so popular.* VideoGame/SCPContainmentBreach uses this in a pants-shittingly terrifying way: When the game is paused, sometimes the game will unpause itself and display the message "Stop Hiding."* In the case of ''VideoGame/TheStanleyParable'', the fourth wall exists only for a brief moment at the start. If the game gets OffTheRails, the InteractiveNarrator starts expressing confusion or frustration toward the game's storyline, the player character, or the player.* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' in the third game Pirates' Curse whenever you have a conversation with Squid Baron and his fear of becoming [[spoiler: a filler boss.]]* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'': When you first meet Tatl, Deku Link turns towards the camera and shrugs after she practically forces him to let her come with him. This is possibly the only time in the series where Link acknowledges the player.** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'': One of the Tutorial notes in Sturgeons House listed is "Learn all there is to learn in lessons one through nine… And no matter what happens… Do not give up, do not complain, and [[AntiPoopSocking do NOT stay up all night playing!]]"*** Also, if you manage to land 1000 strikes on Orca during a duel, he will lose count (since the highest the game can keep track of is 999), call you Master, and ask if your fingers hurt, referencing the "Hold" option for L-Targeting.** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime 3D'', Navi suggests taking a break from playing if you've played for a long time without taking a break. She speaks to the player directly by using your chosen ingame name.--->Hey, Link, are you getting tired? I sure am. Why not take a break and rest for a while? If you do take a break, be sure to press START and save your progress before quitting! ** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', Fi breaks the fourth wall to tell you when your Wii remote needs new batteries.*** Ghirahim does too, in a sense. During his little ritual with [[spoiler:Zelda]] at the end of the game, he dances around her while humming his own theme song. He more directly breaks it during the first boss fight with him, where he give Link (and by proxy, the player) advice on how to beat him by referencing the Wii-mote techniques required to use certain moves to dodge some of his moves.* Talking to Jack Frost or Pyro Jack in the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' games often leads them to brag about being famous characters in human video games.** The hero from ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' does it too. If you talk to Jack Frost or Pyro Jack, they can ask you if you think they are scary. Turns out you have the unique answer "Mascots aren't scary". When Jack Frost hears this, he says he should have some more screen time and FORCES his way to your party (you can't reject his offer). But if Pyro Jack hears it, he gets furious and attacks you immediately.* ''VideoGame/TheDeadlyTowerOfMonsters'' ends when [[spoiler: the characters from the movie literally attack the director and force him to rewrite the script so the movie has a happy ending.]]* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'''s bizarro universe, Another Day, speaking to Joshua in [[spoiler: Udagawa]] results in him practically addressing the player with remarks about why the sprites for the main female protagonist remain the same, despite the fact that [[spoiler: in the main storyline, she's in her friend's body]].** In the same regards, the advice Hanekoma gives Neku about going out to meet new people seems to be equally directed at the players, and this is further enhanced by the fact that the game itself rewards players for turning the game off, or finding friends in wireless mode.*** "Tutorial box out."* ''VideoGame/{{Vangers}}'' goes much further then just breaks the Wall - it reaches out and drags you inside. After you beat the game, [[spoiler:the Spector, a vague supernatural entity that was helping...enlisting...manipulating your character in the course of the game,]] addresses ''you'', i.e. the gamer, revealing that the events of the game [[spoiler:'''are going to happen for real''', and that it had caused the game to be created in its past and your present (yeah, they can do that)]], so that your gaming skills and urge for exploration could be used to [[spoiler:make a real Vanger which could break away from its normal repetitive routine and fulfill the Spectors' mysterious goals]].* Tank Dempsey from ''VideoGame/NaziZombies''. He seems to have quite the talent for it.---->Hey Player, drop the chips and get me some ammo!---->Power's out...wait-does power even make sense in an ancient temple? Seriously Treyarch? SERIOUSLY?!** ''Shangri-La took it to the extreme with his ammo lines:---->Hey player, you got about 20 seconds before I show up in your living room and have a few words with you...''or until I say another out of ammo line''...GET THE HINT?!* ''VideoGame/EatLeadTheReturnOfMattHazard''. The whole game breaks the fourth wall on a number of [[IncrediblyLamePun levels]]. The concept itself does away with the idea of even having a fourth wall. It's about a washed up, self-aware video game character trying to make a comeback for a new game generation, only to find out that someone on the development team wants him dead. They even ''deleted his saves''.* ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'':** In ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'', after his lessons on insult swordfighting, Guybrush says "I can’t help but feel like I’ve been ripped off," then turns towards the screen and continues, "I’m sure you're feeling something similar." Later, Herman Toothrot talks to the player on several occasions. In at least one scene, Guybrush then asks him who he's talking to, and Herman replies, "The people watching, of course!"*** Also, you meet a man wearing a badge that says "Ask me about LOOM." If you do, he tells you about [[VideoGame/{{Loom}} another Lucasarts game]]. The third game references this with a dead man in a restaurant (who [[{{Expy}} looks suspiciously like]] [[VideoGame/GrimFandango Manny Calavera]]) wearing a badge that says "Ask me about VideoGame/GrimFandango."*** Upon first seeing Monkey Island, Guybrush says, "WOW!!! This was well worth $59.95 + Tax."*** The game hilariously parodies the frequent and accidental death screens of Sierra adventures when you can fall off a cliff.*** The player gets to select various speaking lines in the ending of the game. One of them is, "At least I learned something from all of this..."---->'''Elaine:''' What's that?---->'''Guybrush:''' Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.---->'''Elaine:''' A what?---->'''Guybrush:''' I don't know, I'm not sure why I said that.** In ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'' you can actually ''call the Lucas Arts hint line''. In-game.*** And complain about the stump/disks joke from the previous game.*** When Guybrush falls while climbing a tree, he gets knocked unconscious and starts dreaming. The screen turns red, and he tells the player not to adjust their set.** In ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'', when Guybrush "dies," the Grave Digger comments "Funny, I didn't think you could die in [=LucasArts=] adventure games."*** After that, you get a really funny FissionMailed, in which the credits roll until Guybrush breaks the fourth wall again by complaining, "Hey! I'm not really dead! Oh, come on, cut it out!"*** And if you mock the gravedigger for his fondness of horror novels, he retorts, "At least my hobby doesn't require over a thousand dollars in hardware."** In ''VideoGame/EscapeFromMonkeyIsland'', if Guybrush asks a dart player in the SCUMM Bar to try and hit "that guy over there", the dart player will end up throwing a dart at the ''player'' and apparently putting a hole in the monitor. Another example of literally BreakingTheFourthWall.*** Done again in ''Escape''. When talking to a group of lawyers, the player can ask to sue over several things.---->'''Guybrush:''' Let's sue video game companies for making horrible adventure games!---->'''Lawyer:''' WHAT!?---->'''Guybrush:''' I have no idea why I just said that.** Guybrush also tells the player to be thankful the game doesn't simulate smells, once when entering the Bait Shoppe on Lucre Island, and again when at the perfume stand.* After you lose a multiplayer match on the COG side in ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar 2'', Chairman Prescott will deride you. He occasionally says: "Reload, refocus, RESPAWN!"* In ''VideoGame/DrawnToLife'' on the DS, one of the characters named Jowee wonders how the creator (that's you) sees everyone there. He then thinks that the creator sees them through a white box with buttons, with two windows and controls everything with a magic wand (which is all true). Mari then claims that that's the dumbest idea ever and Jowee agrees.** This entire game, the characters speak directly to you, as their creator. You also have to touch things that will affect the game (usually on request to you, the creator).* In ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'', Conker will ask the player if they understand at the end of every new tutorial and at the end of the game, there is a big glitch [[spoiler: where the end boss freezes up as he's about to jump at Conker]]. He then [[spoiler:gets out of his mech]] and knocks on the screen, asking if there's a programmer in the audience (one communicates with Conker via text at the bottom of the screen). He asks for some weapons (and they warp to a matrix-style weapons area) and to be teleported back to the throne room where he can [[spoiler:kill the alien easier.]] After [[spoiler: killing the alien,]] he realizes that he forgot to ask the programmer to [[spoiler: bring Berry back to life]] and tries to get him to come back with no success.* A minor example from ''VideoGame/ChampionsOfNorrath'', if your character stands around long enough, he/she will ask the player to move on, or take a verbal jab at the player.* Perhaps as an homage to the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' series' tradition of breaking the fourth wall, Solid Snake is the only character in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' who gets to do this. In his first appearance in the Subspace Emissary adventure mode, he stands up from his trademarked cardboard box and addresses the player by saying, "Kept ya waiting, huh?"** Also, if a character is knocked off the screen at the top, they will sometimes bounce off the camera.* In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'', one level has Max shot up with drugs. First he hallucinates that he sees a note that tells him he's in a graphic novel, a format the game uses in place of cut scenes. He exits the room only to find himself inside it again, with the note on the desk again. This time the note tells him he's in a computer game. The latter call stayed the same even when the game was ported to other systems like the Playstation 2.** Also in the first game, there's also a part where you have to enter an elevator. If you shoot at the speaker in the ceiling of the elevator, thus ending the elevator music that plays continuously unless you do so, Max will actually ''thank the player''.** In ''Max Payne 2,'' where he walks along a corridor lined with rooms filled with other versions of him, including his character model from the first game (It changed) on which he remarked "I don't look anything like that!"* ''VideoGame/CrashOfTheTitans'' has some notable instances:** Tiny Tiger berates Crash for not including him in the previous video game.** Uka Uka prolongs a cutscene so he can enjoy the dramatic music.* In the first ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'' game, Alastor explains the baddies' evil scheme to Joe by reading from the script.** When he reappears in the sequel, he starts to do the same thing; when Joe points out that he's reading from the old script, Alastor apologizes and advises the player to go buy a copy of the original game to find out who he is.** In ''Red Hot Rumble'', when you pause the game, Captain Blue, Sprocket or Rachel will make a remark about the game being paused, such as Sprocket commenting on the fact that you are going to the bathroom, or pausing to answer the phone. But Rachel takes it UpToEleven by telling you you should go to sleep now if you are playing late at night.** The ''Viewtiful Joe'' games are odd in that they have ''two'' layers of fourth wall: the regular fourth wall, and the in-universe fourth wall between the [[ShowWithinAShow movie world]] and the real world. Only during the above-mentioned scene with Alastor and with the commentary when the game is paused is the first fourth wall ever actually broken, but the second is basically treated [[NoFourthWall like it isn't there at all.]]* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', one of the dancers invites various {{NPC}}s from the crowd to dance with her, and ends with in invitation to "You there in front of the screen, you too."** When Krile makes her first appearance, Galuf acts like he doesn't recognize her, with the standard question mark appearing over his head. He then remembers that his amnesia had been cured earlier, and tosses the question mark off the side of the screen.* Several of the insanity effects in ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' are based around breaking the Fourth Wall, such as fake error messages, bugs in the game, or a blue screen of death. One of the subtler effects is characters making random attacks in empty rooms; when the character has a gun equipped and happens to be facing the player, bullet holes will appear in the screen.* Balthier, who constantly refers himself as the "leading man" in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', admitted that his appearance in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics: War of the Lions'' seemed to "have more the feel of a cameo role".* Gilgamesh does this in his DLC battle in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII-2''. "I was starting to worry you'd never download this part of the game, and I'd be stuck in digital limbo!"** And there's also the secret ending [[spoiler: where [[BigBad Caius Ballad]] breaks the fourth wall to mock the player for trying to find a way to stop him and prevent the game's DownerEnding.]]* ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' refers to death as "ending one's game," among a lot of other breakages.** Jaydes refers to returning from the "death" as a "continue."** Then there's Peach's conversation with Francis, the nerdy chameleon. When Francis asks Peach to marry him, the player can have her ask how much money he makes, to which Peach cries, "Who is picking these answers?"** The first Pixl, Thoreau explains his controls, and when Mario asks what the '1' button is, he says "Don't worry, the great being who watches will understand."** Near the end of the game, the shapeshifter Mimi attempts to trick you with a (very obvious) trap. [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption The only way to proceed through the level is to fall for the trap]]. If you keep talking to her instead, she eventually gives up on the deception and lectures you on {{Event Flag}}s, and how you can't make any further progress in the game until you fall for the damn trap.* The ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}'' game for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis asked the player to "Reset the Computer" to finish the Danger Room level. With no in-game switches or controls to operate, usually the player would be stumped... as it turned out, it meant resetting the game console itself.* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' has a scene where Bowser is launched into the air, and lands on the "monitor" of the Game Boy Advance, leaving cracks and sliding off.** This gag is repeated in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'', with a fountain flying high and smashing into the screen. (Bonus points for being in 3D.)* At one point in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', Professor Frankly tells players to pay attention to his explanation. Also, in another part, "Four-Eyes" warns us not to reveal his real identity ([[spoiler:Lord Crump]]) to Mario, even though he ''himself'' admits that it's probably [[PaperThinDisguise pretty obvious to us who he really is]].** Goombella also does it when describing certain enemies and characters. "Oops, I just broke through the fourth wall there, didn't I?"** Occasionally, the character Rawk Hawk will point at the screen and the player. At one point, he even says something along the lines of "Did you forget me?" targeted at the player.** In the second part of the string of final battles, Bowser inexplicably falls through the roof of the final dungeon and decides to fight Mario because he's there. To comment on the fight's GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere quality, he says: "Gwar har har har har har! What's a finale without a Bowser appearance, huh? A cruddy finale, that's what!"** The game also realizes that the environments and people in it are made of paper, such as at the end of chapter 5, where Cortez' ship rips through a cliff wall as if it were just part of a set.** The battles also take place on a stage in front of a live audience, the fourth wall between the action and ''that'' audience is constantly shattered.*** There's at least two bosses that are GenreSavvy to know that the audience gives Mario items and power up his Star Power, so they ''attack the people in the audience'' to lower their numbers and restore their own HP.** At one point, a little boy NPC says that he's playing ''Franchise/FireEmblem''. After the chapter, he says that he's ''playing the game that he himself is in.''* The All-Knowing Vortigaunt EasterEgg Character in ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}'' seems to be vaguely aware of the relationship between the player and Freeman ("Far distant eyes look out through yours.", "Could you but see the eyes inside your own, the minds in your mind, you would see how much we share.")* ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'' does this as an amusing EasterEgg. One sidequest involves finding medicine for a young boy who has [[MushroomSamba eaten the wrong mushroom]], and consequently spends his days lying in bed and muttering nonsense to himself. If the player hides in the house for long enough (many do, as it's the city guards' blind spot) he will hear the boy say "Nothing is real! We're all just pixels, and our brains are just numbers... whoaaaa..." as well as a reference to the "sandgoose", a nonexistent NPC made up by the developers purely to have something to spread rumours about prior to the game's release!** "Ever get the feeling someone's playing games with you?" "All the time."* In ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Calibur IV]],'' there's a voice that can be used for female characters in Character Creation. After winning a match, it may say, "Even with the same moves, it all depends on the user."* The [[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/arcade/a/gaxe.htm ending]] of the original arcade version of ''VideoGame/GoldenAxe.''* ''VideoGame/AlteredBeast'' has us believe the characters are [[spoiler:making a movie]].* Several games in the ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' series frequently break the fourth wall.** About midway into the first game's Alley of the Sphinxes level, the camera hovers around four locations at which artifacts must be placed. Sam asks, "Just what the hell was that anyway?"** ''Serious Sam: The Next Encounter'' has Sam breaking of the fourth wall rather often, including these lines:---> "You know, studies show that games with monkeys in them [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys are 30% more fun]]."---> "[[DoNotAdjustYourSet Do not adjust your set.]] I think this is supposed to happen."** ''Serious Sam 2'' breaks the fourth wall so frequently, there's hardly any presence of a fourth wall.*** First, NETRICSA mentions having "a bigger game budget", which leaves Sam confused.*** Despite this, a later level has him pointing out [[VisualPun "this game is full of bugs!"]] upon meeting the Zum Zum, a giant bee, and after beating it, he says "There will be no bugs in this game!"*** Also included is a telephone call to the game producers.* {{Lampshaded}} in ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'': in the entrance to the Clan Dungeon, there is a "notice posted on the fourth wall" explaining that the clan dungeon is subject to change and setting out the rules on multis.* Wrestling/TripleH does this in ''WWF Attitude''. Part of his entrance has him talking to the audience..."for the thousands in attendance, for the millions watching at home...", usually follow by something funny. For the game however his lines are followed by "...and for that one fat ass guy sitting on the couch playing this video game." Take that.** ''[[VideoGame/WWEVideoGames SmackDown vs. Raw]]'' has done this twice during the "Road To Wrestlemania" modes on 2010 Santino Marella during the CAW RTWM says your character "Looks like somebody some loser made in a video game,".** Wrestling/{{Christian}}'s RTWM in 2011 has a scene where Wrestling/{{Edge}} says he acted the way he did the previous week to "pull one over on the player" when Christian asks him about this player Edge says "You see that weirdo staring at us at the TV" WHILE POINTING RIGHT AT YOU.* In the ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' games, if you turn the system off without saving, Mr. Resetti will appear every time you restart and give you increasingly longer lectures about how resetting the game is cheating. ''City Folk'' pulls a fake-out the first time you save - Resetti shows up, gives a (relatively) short lecture on the need for saving, then says you saved correctly this time if he showed up.* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'':** The game takes this to a whole new level in that you actually defeat Giygas's last form by breaking the fourth wall. [[spoiler:It uses the player name that you give to the game when you use Paula's Pray command for the ninth time, saying that the player prays for the kids' safety even though he (or she) has never met them before.]]** In the fangame ''[[VideoGame/CognitiveDissonance Mother: Cognitive Dissonance]]'', a clerk at a [[spoiler: Pigmask]] recruitment center asks you, "the one with your hands on the keyboard, looking surprised and now slightly amused," for your name. [[spoiler: And after the fight with Giygas, Niiue thanks you for helping Alinivar use PK Harmony after noting in the light you look like an Earth person.]]** In ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', some characters attempt to cheesily describe how to perform a certain command (i.e. looking at the map or dashing), and then simply describe it in terms of the game's controls. Sparrows, on the other hand, will simply cut to the point. Then there's the Save Frogs, who talk about preserving one's own memories, which they call "saving." Finally, when you pray at the sanctuary for the first time, [[spoiler:you, the player, are addressed directly and are asked to input your name.]]** Also in ''Mother 3'', [[spoiler:the player enters the world at the end]]. And this is before the credits sequence even starts, when the game is supposedly over. Also, during the prologue, Lucas' grandfather breaks the fourth wall, then apologizes and returns to gameplay. Later, a Pigmask, very nervously, asks for the name of 'the person pulling the strings... you know, the player.* ''VideoGame/TombRaiderII'' ended with a wink at the [[UrbanLegendOfZelda nude raider]] cheat rumors, with Lara about to undress for a shower, then turning to the screen and saying "Don't you think you've seen enough?" before [[CameraAbuse blowing away the "camera"]] with a shotgun.* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow'' has a unique example: The only way to know which lamp to get from the lamp trader is to watch a cutscene that Alexander doesn't witness. Later, when Alexander is asked how he knew which lamp to take, he simply states, "Just intuition, I guess."** It also has a more "traditional" example elsewhere in the game: On the first screen of the Cliffs of Logic, if you misclick on the steps Alexander will simply land on the ground on his backside instead of dying from the fall. Do it enough times and he'll look right at the player and gripe that you should "Quit making me fall!"* ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'':** There's an [[NintendoHard infamously difficult-to-access]] [[EasterEgg secret message]] in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' wherein Adam complements Samus on using an ingenious trick to [[SequenceBreaking get out of a level earlier than intended.]] Near the end of the message, he muses, "[[LampshadeHanging I wonder how many players will see this message...?]]"** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' may contain a more subtle breaking. Once Samus acquires the X-Ray visor, she glances towards the camera and recoils slightly in surprise, as if she's seeing beyond the fourth wall. Some consider the ending an example of one as well, since she gives a thumbs up, and while it seems to be directed at Admiral Dane denoting that the mission to [[spoiler:destroy Phaaze]] was a complete success, her gunship's windows are tinted and she's moving at too fast a velocity to be seen anyway. Therefore, some consider Samus to be congratulating the player instead.** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes''. Upon visiting Agon Wastes for the first time, the player might notice quickly a huge statue of a worm. Scan it and the visor will suggest it's a "potential warning to visitors". [[spoiler: That worm was actually a boss. The game just warned you that you're going to fight a huge-ass worm.]]* While building a communicator in ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans 2'', Crypto sings a bit of "The leg bone's connected to the thigh bone" (with more appropriate lyrics) before telling us "I'm not singing the song. I got standards. They may not be high, but I've got them. Besides, we couldn't get the rights." One of the the things {{NPC}}s say when they see you is "You were taller in the first game!"* In ''VideoGame/AtelierIrisEternalMana'', CatGirl Norn gets scared and asks the protagonist Klein to sleep with her in her bed. He refuses, saying "[[MediaWatchdog the ESRB]] would go nuts!" In the end he's a nice enough guy that he at least holds her hand. This is also lampshaded by the fact that the tutorials themselves are referred to as Popo's Fourth Wall each of which has the titular Popo and at least one other character face the player directly and explain a game mechanic.** Similarly, during a quest in ''VideoGame/{{Atelier Iris 3|Grand Phantasm}}'', Edge does this when the party considers (per the client's request) to ask Anna [[LesYay whether she is romantically involved with Phenyl]] or not.-->'''Edge:''' I guess it's possible. What's this game rated?* ''[[Anime/AfroSamurai Ninja Ninja]]'' would like you to know that you are a button mashin' motherfucker, and to go take care of this shit while he gets some coffee.** Ninja Ninja broke the fourth wall every chance he got. At one point, he asks if you've seen the T.V. show, and complains about the "endless hip-hop" music that played whenever you met an enemy. There was one trailer for the game where he commented that someone "...dressed up as their favorite character: guy who dies like a bitch." The worst moment had to be when, after Anime/AfroSamurai gets grabbed by the Doppleganger and flown into space where they have an epic battle, Ninja turns to the screen and says "You saw that, right? This is some fucked-up shit right here. I'm gonna go get some coffee. Keep an eye on that bullshit for me, will you?"* One of the rewards for collecting all 120 stars in ''Videogame/SuperMario64'' is altered dialogue after the final Bowser battle in which he tells Mario to "keep that Control Stick smokin'" until the next time they meet.** The DS remake, being on a system with no control stick, has Bowser telling you to keep the Touch Screen smoking instead.* The flash game ''Escape from Rhetundo Island'' has one huge breach for a difficult puzzle. On level 11 you will see flames in top left corner and will immediately attempt to do something with them, while they move in insane patterns. Turns out that [[spoiler:they're mouse-controlled, if you don't move your mouse, the flames won't move either. So if you let the guy walk in between two of the flames and slowly drag your mouse to the right, you're safe.]]* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', there is a large tower called the Tower of Mana, which the protagonists have to unlock as they climb. It can take a while, especially since the group is split into two teams. Eventually, the group have to climb the tower again. Whilst climbing in the second time, a skit is available where Regal comments on the doors being unlocked already. This prompts [[IdiotHero Lloyd]] to complain about having to climb the tower again, wondering why they can't use the "Quick Jump" option, leaving Raine and Regal thoroughly confused as to what he's talking about.*** This is actually a direct reference to the first game of the series, ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' (below) which had the party's mage, Arche Klein, pull acknowledged quick-jumps in certain parts of the game.** [[DeadpanSnarker Tenebrae]] makes this complaint again, in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'', in reference to [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia the first game]].*** The "Quick Jump" option (for those unfamiliar with the game/series), is simply an option that allows you to skip a part of an area that you have already completed, that may be tedious to get through.* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'', a soldier in the castle of the future talks about how lazy it is to use the same music for (the [[TimeTravel entire time]] taken in account) 150 years.* In ''VideoGame/Tales of Vesperia'', Karol chews the player out for making him wear [[ModestyTowel only a towel]] via a costume title, and the girls refuse to get close to him because of that.** '''Karol:''' You all made me wear this 'cause you thought it was funny! You're terrible!* ''VideoGame/HotelMario'' is full of these. "And YOU gotta help us!" "If you need instructions on how to get through the hotels, check out the enclosed instruction book." "Remind me to check." and the infamous "You know what they say, all toasters toast toast."* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 3'', Dante kind of did this, LITERALLY at that too. At the end of the intro sequence (before the title screen appears) where a woman's voice narrates the legend of Sparda and his two sons, Dante kicks the screen and it cracks.* Not a concrete example of BreakingTheFourthWall but, in the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series, X throws a victory pose at the player after clearing a mission, just like how Zero throws a thumbs up. Too bad on Zero's part though, he suddenly becomes TheStoic and just turns away to show a BadassBack instead of giving a thumbs up from X5 onwards.* Nina and Max from both ''VideoGame/SecretFiles'' games sometimes break the fourth wall. Always humorous.* ''VideoGame/SlashEmExtended'', a variant of ''VideoGame/NetHack'', has the Spacewars Fighter quest. The quest leader literally says: "your character is too low-level in order to stand a chance! Arabella can probably take off more [[HitPoints hit points]] in a single hit than your maximum amount, meaning she might [[OneHitKill one-hit-kill]] you!" And if you're successful, "You're playing Nethack! Well, you might just as well [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascend]] now, then come back in a new game!"* The characters from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' occasionally seems aware they're in a video game. It's at times done subtly (the constant references to the adventure as a {{dungeon crawl|ing}} in [[CuteWitch Marisa and Alice's]] ''Subterranean Animism'' scenario, which could pass as {{wrong genre savvy}}ness, or Flandre Scarlet telling to Marisa that she can't use "a continue", since in her stage -The Extra stage- the player is not allowed to use continues if he/she happens to lose all the lives) and at others extremely blatant ("I mean, she's still a Stage 2 boss after all.")** [[spoiler:Kogasa's appearance as the UFO extra-stage boss may count, as she does "surprise" the players.]]** Yukari Yakumo is sometimes seen doing this in fanarts, mostly because of her power of manipulating ANY kind of boundaries (technically includes the 4th wall)* Pretty liberal in ''[[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Kagetsu Tohya]]''. "But... [[MediumAwareness Why has the background music become so foreboding?]]" - (A thought Shiki has when Ciel is talking about her not being in the play and she has her angry glarey face on.) In fact, the whole scene is one big fourth wall breaking complaint about Ciel regarding her low popularity, how her scene for the cultural festival was cut due to time constraints and how little she gets to do in the story this time. She consoles herself with the knowledge that even if she's the least popular heroine, at least she has a custom sprite. Several of the side stories are similarly unkind to the poor, oft abused fourth wall.* In ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', a cutscene after the player's character first arrives to Los Angeles. After being ambushed by three Sabbat vampires, one of the Sabbat declares "Boys, we're going to have a lot of fun with this one." before facing the camera and saying "Those of you in the first few rows, will get wet!"** If the player is a Malkavian (a clan of insane vampires) the dialogue has a few options for such. ** Perhaps the funniest example being if you cheat at character creation to give yourself loads of skill points, the tutorial runner will complain and demand you do it again. * ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' manages to combine this with a ContinuityNod. In a cut scene [[OldSaveBonus only accessible to gamers who have played (and still have the save files from)]] ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'', Heather thinks she sees something suspicious in the bowl of a toilet. As she's about to reach in, she suddenly stops herself, muttering that she can't bring herself to do it -- at which point she turns directly to the player and asks, "Who would do something so disgusting?" Anyone who's played the second game knows the answer to that.* ''VideoGame/SilentHillDownpour'' breaks the fourth wall at a few points just to mess with your head and creep you out. When you reach the radio station, Murphy finds his parole papers pinned to the door and has a flashback which reveals why he was in prison. When the flashback ends and the loading screen is displayed, rather than showing tips like it normally does the text simply reads "Was it worth it?"* In the original ''VideoGame/PunchOut'', Mike Tyson says between rounds, "You think the speed of your ''fingers'' can match the strength of my fists?"* In ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' for Wii, Aran Ryan ''literally'' breaks the fourth wall if you lose to him in contender mode. He attempts to ''literally'' break it again in the ''next round'' cutscene in Title Defense, but the ref stops Aran Ryan.** Soda also does this in Title Defense, where he pushes a bottle box at the screen, covering it up.* The VGA remake of ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryI'' has a hilarious instance where breaking into the sheriff's safe more than once will give you more experience. However, Otto and the sheriff will wake up to find you doing this and then arrest you for "blatant power-gaming."** In ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryII'', you can quite literally break the fourth wall by throwing things (or a flame dart spell) at the tree that looks like a woman (a rather dickish thing to do). It bounces off and breaks your monitor. Since this is a Sierra game, it's fatal.*** In the same game, if you keep refusing to buy the Saurus, the Saurus salesman will flat-out tell you that the Saurus is [[UnwinnableByDesign required to win the game,]] and gives you once last chance before packing up and leaving. If you ''still'' won't buy it, [[NonStandardGameOver the game immediately kills you for being too thick-headed.]]* ''VideoGame/SpaceQuest'' is notorious for breaking the fourth wall routinely and without reservation throughout the whole series, most often through direct asides and comments to the player through the narration and mockery of your poor skills when you die. A few more notable instances include:** In ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestITheSarienEncounter'' (VGA version), if you decide to touch a pool of acid, you get a special, elaborate death scene where the Two Guys from Andromeda, the creators of the series, appear on the screen and detail to you exactly how you messed up, complete with instant replay and on-screen circles and lines drawn pointing to your melted arm. You can also get a similar death scene by walking through a set of lasers, where the Two Guys will again appear and tell you to keep it up since it's amusing.** In ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestIIIThePiratesOfPestulon'', you have to rescue the Two Guys from Andromeda from an evil software corporation. While you're making your getaway, one of the Guys turns towards the screen and says "So, how do you like the game so far? Was it worth $59.95?" At the end of the game, you bring the Two Guys to {{Creator/Sierra}}, the company that made Space Quest. The current CEO at the time then hires them to, you guessed it, make Space Quest.** The entire premise of ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestIVRogerWilcoAndTheTimeRippers'' revolves around breaking the fourth wall. Roger Wilco is pursued by the "Sequel Police" for perpetrating unwarranted sequels to his franchise. He uses a Time Pod to travel between various games in the series, some of which don't even exist (such as Space Quest XII). At one point you can even buy a strategy guide to Space Quest IV in the game itself, which gives you some fairly unhelpful hints on what to do (as well as advice on what to do if your computer crashes or freezes while playing, which is all equally unhelpful).*** Newer Creator/{{Sierra}} adventure games use a variety of icons to portray the characters actions. If you click on the hand and then Roger the Narrator will berate you by saying "Hey! Keep your hands off yourself! This is a family game!"** In ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestVIRogerWilcoInTheSpinalFrontier'', Roger comments at one point, "Who wrote this crap? Oh yeah, Scott, yeah, well then, yeah, good...good work," Scott being the first name of one of the Two Guys from Andromeda. At another point, the narrator directly addresses the player with, "See what I have to put up with? Maybe they need a narrator over at Myst 2. A guy can dream..."*** ''[[VideoGame/SpaceQuestVIRogerWilcoInTheSpinalFrontier Space Quest 6]]'' also has several instances of Roger and the narrator talking to each other. And at one point Stellar Santiago also appears to hear the narrator, only Roger tells her it's nothing.* If you die a certain way in ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'', Larry's body gets dumped into the programmer's bit bucket and recycled for future adventure games.** The game's narrator, particularly in 'Love For Sail' often talks directly to the player. Trying to manipulate certain parts of the female [=NPCs=] often elicits responses implying (perhaps correctly) that the player bought the game for that reason alone. * ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'' arguably breaks the 3.5th wall as part of its plot [[spoiler:when your party discovers that their entire universe isn't real and they are all actually exist in a video game created by beings from the 4th dimension. They then proceed to break out into "reality" and kick their own creators' asses.]]* ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts: Covenant'':** Early in the game, the party runs into a LargeHam masked bandit named "Grand Papillon" (who turns out to be Joachim, one of the playable characters). He boasts about how he's fighting for truth and justice and then the camera cuts to his face, then his chest, ''then his butt'', and finally Yuri standing in front of and facing the camera, holding his arms out in disgust.** Near the end of the game, Joachim is asked by his mentor if he and the party can participate in the "Man Festival". Yuri quickly responds with, "Not in a clean, mega-hit RPG such as this!" After clearing the 50th (?) floor, the quest jumps to the final eight fights. Anastasia comments, "Didn't we just skip about 30 or so floors?"* In ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts: Southampton'', when Joachim finds a weapon for himself: An annoyed Yuri says, "Don't we usually get our weapons from chests and shops?"* In ''VideoGame/SecretOfEvermore'', the player meets a crazy old man who rants about how people have no free will and are puppets of a button pressing madman. You (the player, not the protagonist) then get to push a button to determine what horrible fate befalls him. In that scenario, it's possible to [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything press the cancel button]] and receive a [[VideoGameCaringPotential reward for your mercy.]]* The MMORPG ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' includes an NPC, Fusionette, who talks about her in-game actions as if she were actually playing the game; she refers to her character's level, talks about going to the "trainer" NPC that players use to gain new abilities, and uses phrases such as "Just wait until my Build Up recharges!" to other [=NPCs=] (Build Up being a damage/accuracy boosting ability with a long recharge time). She also appears in one mission where she is not supposed to be, and tells the player, "Don't look at me like that! I had to be in this mission!"** Also in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' there is a hidden room in the Faultline city zone where Melissa Bianco and Mike Apolis (two of the game's designers) hang out as [=NPCs=] and chat with the players.* In ''VideoGame/StarControl 2'', the various alien races address the player directly during the credits, with many of them behaving like actors who have just wrapped up a shoot. Several even go so far as to explain what they expect to be doing in the sequel.* The ''Franchise/JakAndDaxter'' series has some really great examples of this, but a standout is a scene that appears in ''Jak 3'', when the characters meet the Precursors in person. One of them, while the group tries the old "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" thing, is seen trying to cover the ''camera'' with his hand during the scene.** Toward the beginning of ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'':--->'''Seem:''' [[ThisIsReality This isn't a game]]!\\''Jak and Daxter pause, [[AsideGlance stare at the camera]], look back at Seem, and continue the scene''** In ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'' they have to join a race team owned by [[FatBastard Krew]]. Their contract mentions that Krew owns all rights, including game rights.* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' taps this one with one of their jokes generated by a human female character using the /silly command. "Do you ever feel like you're not in charge of your own destiny, like... you're being controlled by an invisible hand?"** Same goes for a Night Elf female character, though it's a little more subtle. "Oh, look, I'm dancing again! I hope all your friends are enjoying the show..." (considering the way they dance is pretty stripperific.)*** Apparently the folks at Blizzard really like this trope. They actually break it with these two by a Blood Elf female. "Do you think the expansion will make me fat?" and "I'm the girl the [[MoralGuardians ESRB]] warned you about."*** There is also one of the tips that appears when logging into the game: ''Bring all your friends to Azeroth, but don't remember to spend time outside Azeroth with them too!''*** Try clicking on a unit you select in ''Warcraft III'' multiple times after hearing the whole speech. For example, you can hear the Human Sorceress saying "Click me baby, one more time.".*** The biggest one is probably the Crypt Lord, a big-ass spider: "And they say Blizzard games don't have bugs!"** Nearly all Blizzard games use this trope in pretty much the same way. In the ''Warcraft'' games, clicking on certain unit types repeatedly results in the unit ordering the player to "StopPokingMe!". In the ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' series, each unit type and character has a short dialog that is triggered by repeated clicking. Most of them stay in character, talking about themselves and their missions; while others break the fourth wall to talk to the character, usually expressing frustration at being constantly harassed by the player, or opinions about how bored the player must be to keep wasting his time like that. A few use [[ShoutOut quotes from various other pop-culture sources]] -- for example, the Terran drop-ship pilot uses quotes from ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', and the German-accented Terran Valkyrie pilot references the "Frau Blücher" running gag from ''Film/YoungFrankenstein''. Protoss character Artanis quotes the "Stop poking me!" line from ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}''. Although the Zerg have no dialog as such, repeatedly clicking on them results in a number of different noises not normally used during play.*** "This isn't ''Warcraft'' in space!"* In ''VideoGame/LostSoulsMUD'', some [=NPCs=] are aware that some of the people found in their world are the puppets of beings from an entirely different order of reality — that is, {{Player Character}}s. One has written a book about it.* ''VideoGame/SonicChronicles'' for the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS took the whole wall, stabbed it and hanged it upside down with the ending cutscene. [[spoiler: After the heroes exit Nocturne and return to their own world it turns out that Eggman [[DidntSeeThatComing played the heroes for fools]] and had deliberately helped them to get to Nocturne in order to get all the necessary time to take over the entire world without the meddling of Sonic and his friends. Tails and Sonic then end up having a conversation about how they didn't expect such an ending, how impressed they were of it and how they'll have to wait for the next episode in order to see what happens next. Tails then ends up telling Sonic about the makers of the game, Creator/BioWare, and ends up listing the whole cast credits at which point you can, as Sonic, tell Tails that you want to skip it]].** Tails would in fact break the fourth wall a few other times before when he constantly reminded you to save your game unless you tell Tails to stop reminding you.** In ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' (Wii version), when Tails tells Sonic the aliens are called Wisps, he turns to the camera and says "Yeah, I'll just stick with 'aliens' if that's okay with everybody."* In most ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games, if Sonic is kept still for a long time, he will look at the player and tap his foot. In VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 he also looked at his hand (as if he was looking to a watch), and in Sonic 3 he would even point to the player and then point forward.** Special mention goes to VideoGame/SonicCD, where if you leave him sitting for 3 minutes, Sonic will yell, "I'm outta here!" ''and jump out of the screen'', resulting in a NonstandardGameOver.* Characters in ''VideoGame/TheSims'' do this a lot as well, looking straight into the camera and yelling at the player if one of their needs gets too low (like if they're really hungry or tired, or really have to use the bathroom).* The heroine of ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'', Zoe, speaks to you, the player, near the ending of the game as if she is telling you her story.* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' does this a few times (Travis: And you, with the Wii Remote? Just press the A button...), and throughout the game Travis has little speech bubbles over his head telling you what button to push. The fourth wall is ripped to pieces in the ending of the game ("You'll only jack up the age rating of this game even further!" "Fine, I'll fast-forward through it so you can tell me.") and Sylvia even taunts the players with "Too bad there won't be a sequel!"** And of course, there is [[VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle a sequel]]. Which breaks the fourth wall almost immediately. "Aren't you going to explain what happened since the last game?"* In ''VideoGame/{{Anachronox}}'', you encounter a man at a spaceport who is telling listeners that they are in a video game and that most of them only have a limited amount of dialog they can say. This is, of course, the only thing he can actually say. One of the listeners, when spoken to, will refute the speaker's claims by saying he certainly had more than one thing that he can say. Again, this is the only thing he can actually say.* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'':** In ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIV'', one of your party members leaves for a bit and flat out tells you not to go after the big bad while he's gone because at this stage of the game, you aren't powerful enough to beat him. Of course, Chaz doesn't listen.** Early in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIII'', if the player uses an item to escape from a prison, they will cause a GameBreakingBug that prevents an event from occurring that would allow the player to leave the first town. Talk to the king, and he will compliment you on your creative thinking, but regrettably, you can no longer progress and will have to reset the game.* In ''VideoGame/{{Shift}} 2'', the wall of spikes actually stop in the beginning of the game due to faulty actionscript.* In ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando'' when the aforementioned main characters first land on Notak, they see their target fly away. They then comment to each other that they always seem to be just a bit too late, and ask themselves how that could happen, before turning to look at the camera.** In ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction Tools of Destruction]]'', when Ratchet & Clank meet The Plumber (a recurring NPC in the series) he says that he "didn't recognize them in high-definition".** In the first ''VideoGame/{{Ratchet and Clank|2002}}'', Ratchet would turn his head and look at the player when idle. Disconcerting when you were trying to figure out the next platforming puzzle, which was when Ratchet was most likely to be idle.* ''VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories'' has many of these, one is pointed out by the main character when one random NPC says that there are multiple endings available by responding "You aren't even trying any more are you?"** The ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' series [[NoFourthWall barely has a fourth wall to begin with]]. Characters are fully aware of their stats and levels, different [=NPCs=] try to steal the "main character" spot, and there's surprise when a BonusBoss from an earlier game turns out to have a role in the main quest. Why, yes, the one Laharl couldn't believe was level four thousand.** ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' also has a beautiful example at the end of chapter four, when [[BigBad Vulcanus]] says that he's going back to Celestia to come up with a new plan and starts to walk away, then pauses and turns and says, "Got that!? Don't forget it, even if I don't make an appearance for awhile!" Sure enough, he doesn't re-enter the plot until there are only a few chapters left.** This tradition continues in crossover games. In VideoGame/TrinityUniverse only the Disgaea characters break the fourth wall. The Prinnies are especially proud of it.* ''VideoGame/{{Skate}} 3'', oddly enough, breaks the wall early on, when a cutscene details the Object Dropper dropping objects out of the sky in a cutscene, and Atiba Jefferson comments on it, saying that "Objects are falling out of the sky, man! It's crazy!"** Some of the AI pros say stuff when being faced in a 1-up battle, such as "Who programmed me?!?"* ''VideoGame/TrueCrimeStreetsOfLA'': The 'hero', a wildly out-of-control CowboyCop, can run over pedestrians. One of his replies? "Don't worry about it, this is just a video game." Made extra creepy, because [[spoiler: the bad ending, narrated by Christopher 'Creepy' Walken, has the hero cop thrown from the top of a fifty story building]].* ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'' does this while the Prince and Farah are in the library. After she reads a poem to him:-->"What was that for?"\\"I thought you'd like it."\\"If you really want to be helpful then find a book that tells us how to get out of here!"\\"This isn't that kind of game!"\\"Game? She thinks this is a game!"* Dmitri Petrovich of the ''VideoGame/BackyardSports'' series does this many times. In the original ''Backyard Baseball'', he says that if the AI improved and there was less chatter, the game would be better. (True thing.) In ''Backyard Skateboarding'', he says "I think we are wasting time" on the choose character screen.* In ''VideoGame/SimonTheSorcerer'' the protagonist encounters a group of four wizards; when he talks to them, they pretend they are farmers. But you can point out that when you point at them with the cursor, it says "wizards"...** And when you talk to them, you DO treat them as wizards. You can even tell them about the cursor.* Picking up an extra life in ''VideoGame/{{Madworld}}'' has the announcers wonder why the enemies never pick up power-ups - "It's like they can't ''see'' them!"* In ''VisualNovel/SnowSakura'', the main character [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Tachibana Yuuji]] has his moments with this trope but nothing matches his announcement that he'll "watch you closely" when you choose that he should [[PervertedSniffing smell at Saki's panties]].* [[MonsterClown Kefka]] does this in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. When a fellow villain asks him why he doesn't just ambush his rival and kill her without theatrics, he answers: "''[[ForTheEvulz I wanna have some fun]]! After all, she's a -- '''good old friend of mine'''. [[EvilLaugh Mwhehehe!]]''" At the last part, he turns to look directly through the fourth wall, giving the players a knowing gaze since both they and he know about the events of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' where he met her before.** ''TECHNICALLY'', Kefka sorta does it during his EX-burst. Right before the part where the player has to memorize a three-button sequence, he tells his opponent, and quite possibly you, to "Watch this."** Sometimes he will hum the victory fanfare when he wins too.** In duocedim, Gilgamesh does this when he initiates his ex-burst, starting with a spinning slash and '''LITERALLY''' breaking the fourth wall, with his face, specifically.** Also in Duodecim, Feral Chaos' EX Burst ends with him delivering a punch with so much force, it appears to turn off your PSP's screen as if it were a television.* ''VideoGame/TheDarkSpire'''s final ending concludes with the characters looking up at the sky and seeing the player on the other side of the DS screen. They thank you for your guidance, and you are awarded the title "WINNER".* While the fourth wall in ''VideoGame/{{Contact}}'' is pretty much swiss-cheesed by the end of the game, the ultimate in fourth-wall-breaking comes at the very end, when [[spoiler: the player's character gets fed up with being manipulated and actually attacks you, the player, through the DS's screen.]]* In ''The Guild 2'' each character belongs to one of four classes: learned; craftsman; self-employed; and outlaw. If you click too often on an outlaw, he/she will reply, pissed: "Stop clickin' me!!!".* In ''VideoGame/DukeNukemManhattanProject'', right before the FinalBoss fight starts, Duke turns towards the screen and invites the player to help him beat the boss.-->'''Duke:''' This is it. Let's you and me finish off this bastard once and for all!* One of the endings of the ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' DLC ''Enter the Edy Detachment''. If you get the worst rank possible, Edy starts ranting about how she deserves a better rank, how the player sucks ("I'm talking to you, sloth fingers!"), and ends the rant by literally ''telling the player that she is going to re-do the mission to get a better rank''. HilarityEnsues when Homer keeps asking Edy who she's talking to.* In ''VideoGame/{{Assassins Creed II}}'' Desmond is using the Animus to view his ancestral memories of Ezio. At the end, [[spoiler:Minerva, a precursor to the human race, looks straight at the camera and delivers her message to Desmond, chiding Ezio each time he interrupts saying that the message isn't intended for him (the only person in the room), but is instead meant for the viewer, Desmond]], thereby "breaking the fourth wall" of the Animus.* ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'' has one in the rantings of the increasingly insane [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Nolan Stross]], whom in his paranoid ramblings mentions "him watching".** When boarding the tram with Ellie in Chapter 9, he looks directly at the camera and screams "STOP STARING AT ME!"* The third ''VideoGame/GabrielKnight'' game has a running gag where the player is given options to try some nasty things but Gabriel will refuse to do them, and then he will comment on the player with quips like "You're sick," or "You really are sadistic. You need help." Repeated attempts later would result in "Are you still on that track? Get. Help."* ''VideoGame/{{Ristar}}'' has a minor break whenever the player loses a life. When you lose the last star that represents HitPoints, it falls down and conks Ristar on the head, knocking him out.* In the final battle of ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'', the first thing that happens is that the BigBad grows large enough to shatter the screen. Thankfully, this has no real effect on the battle other than following the RuleOfCool.** In ''The Lost Age'', answering "no" to every question up to a certain point results in Kraden going off on Felix and asking if he thinks this is all just a game.* This happens in ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' of all places. Normally gameplay elements are described in a matter fitting to the world, with the increased avoid in forests being attributed to branches making it hard to hit, and the Secret book increasing skill as a legendary knight wrote down his battle techniques into a book. However, one villager in Rekka no Ken blatantly asks you if you know how to use the R button to look up information.* In ''VisualNovel/SharinNoKuni'', Kenichi is generally treated like he's crazy because of his constant narrative dialogue, forever addressing some 'you' character. [[spoiler:It's actually a subversion; He's talking to his sister who has been standing behind him all along. People treat him like he's crazy because they are not allowed to acknowledge her existence in any way. On the other hand,]] Touka also wakes up from a dream that was done from Kenichi's perspective and complains about the confusion that made it seem as though it were really happening. Kenichi has no idea what she is talking about.* [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie "It looks like there's no one here!" "Yes there is. The music just changed."]]* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}''. If you stand idle with Mordecai he will say "Now that you mention it i do love standing here doing nothing."** There's also the last boss of The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned DLC, who, after being defeated, goes OneWingedAngel and literally tears apart the 4th wall, or rather, the end credits. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix_nZ8PVc7g]]** ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' ups the ante.*** Zer0, [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Mordecai's "replacement"]], has this in his idle quotes.*** Claptrap has a justified breakage of the fourth wall when he explains the functionality of his stash.*** Gaige does it regarding her Anarchy stack gain quotes, lampshading how frustrating it is to not reload like normal. Get her Anarchy up high enough and she'll start yelling at the player for breaking the game, or start yelling at the ''writers'' to put in more dialogue. Additionally, one of her idling quotes is "LAAAG."*** And of course, [[MascotMook psychos]] will do it as well.* In ''VideoGame/ZakMcKrackenAndTheAlienMindbenders'', the main character loves to do that, and not only him.* In ''Zeus Master Of Olympus'', you can right click people to listen to their quotes. Sometimes, a trader from a not-so-friendly city will say, "Right click me? I'll right click you! You and this city stink and I only trade with you because my leader demands me to."* Played with in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''. Stitch crawls on it, licks it, and stands on the Command Menu, as well as Sora's HUD, or, to be precise, on the Drive/Summon Gauge.** In a more regular example in the first game, WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck is out of shot during a conversation so he literally ''[[Funny/KingdomHearts pulls the screen away from Goofy to focus on him]]'' before he begins speaking.** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3D'', if you poke or pet a Ghostabocky, it occasionally tries to eat the hand cursor, only to spit it into the screen with disgust shortly after.* The lesser known [=PS1=] fighting game ''Zero Divide'' has an instance of fourth wall breaking, when the announcer asks if the player is trying to break the controller if buttons are mashed repeatedly. This instance can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4ucvOVJjpI (Cut to 1:28 when the video has loaded enough).* ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' has the eponymous character look towards the screen and attempt to contact the player through motions and gestures if left idle while standing still or hanging from a ledge.** In ''VideoGame/Rayman3HoodlumHavoc'', [[ExpositionFairy Murfy]] straight-out takes out a copy of the game's manual and uses it to explain to Rayman what's going on.* In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', a few characters do this as part of their victory pose, including Freddy Krueger, Sub Zero, Cyrax, Reptile, Kitana and Mileena. (With a couple of them, it's a case of TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou.)* At the entrance to the Heavenly Jade Imperial Tower in ''VideoGame/BunnyMustDie'' is a red gate and a switch where you place your yellow gem, which naturally doesn't do anything. Cue message stating that it isn't a glitch, and Bunny wondering what the voice she just heard was.** The first devil, El Bobomboi also [[LampshadeHanging lampshades the fact]] that she's supposed to be the first devil if you {{sequence break|ing}} and fight Pyoa Aaaa first.* In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', every so often, one hero Mordekaiser responds with "You only need to click once... fool!" when given the order to move.** This is more a NoFourthWall as almost all the champs have a similar line.* Some of the units in ''VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes'' will break the wall if you click on them enough. A few examples:--> '''British Infantry Section:''' Oi! Get your filthy hands off the mouse!--> '''American Infantry:''' If you click me one more ''fuckin''' time...--> '''Panzer Grenadiers:''' Clickity, click. Clickity fucking click. Fucking scheiße...--> '''American Paratroopers:''' [Sigh] Airborne! Time to kick the shit outta Player One!--> '''American Infantry:''' Uh, sir, are you ''drunk''?--> '''British Tank Crew:''' Gunner! Point the turret up at the camera in the sky!** And when you select a unit that's pinned down, you get gems like...--> '''American Infantry:''' ''WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT??!!''* Franchise/{{Pokemon}} has tons of examples. For more information, look [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Breaking_the_fourth_wall here]].* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' has LOTS of these. For example:-->* '''the Parlor Room's bartender:''' "Are you okay, sir? Drinking all that "alcohol-Z" looks like it has had some sort of effect on you. Are you sure you want more?"--> '''The Chosen One:''' "I don't feel so good...I'm just going to pop out of dialogue for a second and check my max hit points." OR--> '''The Chosen One:''' "No, no, I feel great! I'm just going to pop out of dialogue for a second and check my max hit points."-->* '''Lydia''', the Tap House bartender after completion of the game: "It's the Chosen One! Everybody give it up for the HERO of Fallout 2!"* SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} carries over his habit of breaking the fourth wall into ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3''. When he's knocked out, he yells out "YOU PRESSED THE WRONG BUTTON!", referring to the player controlling Deadpool. Upon winning. he'll also scold the player for sitting on the couch and being lazy while he has to do all the fighting. There is another one where he asks if the player was recording the fight and chastises him for not doing so. Finally, his Level 3 Hyper Combo has him assume a girlish pose and walk toward his opponent with a pink aura and hearts surrounding him for a few seconds. If he is attacked in this state, he'll jump up, grab his health bar, and whack his opponent in the head. He then grabs his Super Meter, winds up, and knocks his opponent sky high.** He also shouts "Hey I freaking love Street Fighter! Autograph your spleen for me?" if he is on point against a Street Fighter character (Ryu, Akuma, Chun-Li and C.Viper). If landing the killing blow against one of these, he will say : "I get the cover of the next Street Fighter for this, right Capcom? Right!?" Also, in his ending, he says "I'd invite you to party with me, but you'll just have to make do with the points you got for beating the game. He then accidentally destroys a city, causing the cops to put out an APB for him and his accomplice, "The Player."*** It'd be easier to list the few instances where he doesn't break the 4th wall.* And now, SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} has [[VideoGame/{{Deadpool}} a game of his own]]. A moment of silence for our dear friend, the Fourth Wall...* And yet another SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} entry from SpidermanShatteredDimensions, where he appears as an enemy for Ultimate Spider-Man. He passes comment on the player collecting spider emblems (a gameplay element that none of the other characters acknowledge) and mocks any use of the pause button.* If you fall far enough to hurt yourself, but not far enough to die, ''VideoGame/TheSaboteur'' will shout things. One of them is "[[VideogameCrueltyPotential Stop that]]!"* There's a minor example in ''VideoGame/DeadRising2''. The player can get Chuck to wear various outfits you find in Fortune City, and he comments on most of them with stock lines like "Killer", "Smooth", and "Nice". Make him crossdress, though, and while sometimes he'll deadpan "Pretty", he'll also say "Um...Seriously?", and "If you say so..."* ''Whacky Wheels'' has a literal example of this. If you run into certain obstacles at high speed, your character will fly out of their little go-cart, hit the screen (leaving huge cracks) and slowly slide off.* The early ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' games ''shot'' the fourth wall on occasion.** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' there's an area in the laboratory where the player can shoot directly into the camera. If you're using a pistol bullet holes will appear on the screen. A nice little EasterEgg.** In the sequel, ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', there's a small alley with dogs where the same thing can happen. It can also be done while fighting G on the turntable lift.* Stay on the menu screen too long in ''VideoGame/GhostHunter'' and a spirit would zoom up and audibly tap on the screen.* In ''VideoGame/TakAndThePowerOfJuju'' the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JcFz_LkJSA opening cutscene]] has the village shaman talking to the player, whom he regards as a powerful juju spirit from another world.** The camera viewpoint moves across the interior of the shaman's hut as he chants to summon a juju spirit. When the camera is on his face, he opens his eyes and screams at the sight of the player looking at him.** "''You are so strange! Your clothes. That powerstick you hold in your hand. I have ''never'' seen a juju like you before. What is this magic box you watch me on?'' [Presses his hands to the screen so you can see his fingers flatten themselves on the screen.] ''It is clearly the most important thing in your hut! You do me great honor to watch me on it....''"* In ''VideoGame/XMenLegends II: Rise of Apocalypse'', every character has a couple of lines when they're idle for too long, and several are directed at the player, like Bishop's "Hey you! Yeah, you! What are you doing that's so much more important than this?"* Franchise/{{Spyro|TheDragon}} does this a lot in ''[[VideoGame/SpyroAHerosTail A Hero's Tail]]'', often [[AsideGlance turning to the camera]] and making a remark. One that springs to mind...-->'''Spyro:''' ''After meeting [[SurferDude Otto]] [[TotallyRadical The Otter]], and looking at the camera''* ...[[DrugsAreBad Just Say No]].** Oh, there are two others that are better then that.-->'''Spyro:''' *Just before fighting a mammoth boss* I've beaten bigger baddies than you. [[GenreSavvy All I have to do is run around you a few times while I figure out your ]][[AttackItsWeakPoint weakness.]] Then I just hit you three times and...*Is crushed by the mammoth's foot.*-->'''Hunter:''' *a short time after the above, after Sparx explains the situation* We have to rescue him before it's too late!-->'''Sparx:''' But what if it's already too late?-->'''Hunter:''' Relax, buddy. Spyro's still alive. I know, because if he weren't, we'd be going back to a previous save.* After obtaining the Ancient Sword in ''VideoGame/ThreeDDotGameHeroes'', the king asks you if you'll accept his quest. [[ButThouMust If you pick no, he'll tell you that you can't pick that because that answer doesn't advance the story.]]* ''VisualNovel/YoJinBo'' does a pretty good job of smashing that wall, too. The guys like to tease Mon-Mon about "not being one of the characters you can get at the end of the game", and his response is that he has an ImageSong and has spent too much time reading his lines to ''not'' be a "captureable character".* ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsGame'' is just layers of this. [[spoiler:At the finale of the game, God asks you for his guide book back, which then zooms out to Ralph Wiggum playing on his TV. Ralph then turns and just STARES at you.]]* In the ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' 2011 Easter event, a squirrel named the 'Antipodean Squirrel', is angry about how the Easter event is Northern-Hemisphere-Centric, and about how it is Spring in the northern hemisphere and how it is autumn in the southern hemisphere and it is not fair to no autumn event. (One responce is to tell him to stop breaking the fourth wall, which the response is 'Yeah, likeyou stay in character all the time!')He is angry how one half of the world is being left out. And his way of solving the problem is to 'Stand here... and keep shouting'.* ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork 6'': There's a Navi Customizer program called Humor, in which we can trigger a conversation between Lan and Mega Man (and occasionally someone else). In one occasion, Mega Man asks whether Lan is being "operated" by an unknown guy. Then Lan somehow recognized (indirectly) that he's a guy in a 6th installment of a game. [[http://megatuga.deviantart.com/art/4th-wall-Breaking-MM-m-141193635?q=gallery%3Amegatuga%2F23658695&qo=25 Detailed here.]]* The art dealer from ''VideoGame/LittleKingsStory'': Upon approaching him, he says "You in front of the TV playing Little King's Story!"* On the last level, VideoGame/{{Bubsy}} asks, "are you still playing this thing?".* In ''VideoGame/TachyonTheFringe'', when entering a console cheat code, the main character will start taunting the player for his lack of skill.* In the ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'' enclosed instrution book, if you get to the point in which the booklet says, "And here's Kirby," Kirby breaks the fourth wall [[http://www.kirbysrainbowresort.net/games/dreamland/instruction/dl0910.jpg from introducing himself to telling players what to do to the items to explaining the stages.]] [[http://www.kirbysrainbowresort.net/games/dreamland/instruction/dl1112.jpg Next page of "And here's Kirby" can be found here.]] [[http://www.kirbysrainbowresort.net/games/dreamland/instruction.html A text version of the instruction booklet can be found here.]]** Also, unlike the 3DS release manual, Kirby, as he is explaining the items, tells the people who are reading the manual [[http://www.kirbysrainbowresort.net/games/dreamland/instruction/dl1314.jpg about himself,]] [[http://www.kirbysrainbowresort.net/games/dreamland/instruction/dl1516.jpg and about the items. Kirby then explains the stages in the next page.]]** Kirby also breaks the fourth wall in the ''Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble'' [[http://www.kirbysrainbowresort.net/games/tiltandtumble/instruction.html enclosed instruction book via speech bubbles.]]* In ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'', Kirby can get the Hypernova ability, which lets him suck up any loose object or enemy, no matter how big. In stage 6-5 he sucks up a boss; first its parts go, taking down its health bar, and at the end the ''health bar'' gets sucked in along with the base.* ''VideoGame/NightTrap'' has characters frequently speak to you via the cameras, and some of them call you Control.* If you play ''VideoGame/RogueGalaxy'' for too long, Kisala will make a commentary on how long you have been playing the game.* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has a few lines that BreakTheFourthWall:-->'''Scout:''' ''"Yeah, I dare ya, rage quit. C'mon, make us both happy."''--->(upon earning an achievement) ''"No otha' class gonna do dat!"''--->''"Dis map ain't big enough for da two of us!"''* At the beginning of ''VideoGame/TheReconstruction'', Fell talks to the player directly. Justified in that she ''is'' some sort of demigod.** [[spoiler:[[DoingInTheWizard Or]] [[ClarkesThirdLaw not]], though whatever technology gives the Watchers their precognitive abilities probably grants them this knowledge as well.]]* When you have selected or modified your multiplayer character's weapon in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'', he will examine it briefly, then nod appreciatively at the player.* The cast of ''{{VideoGame/Zenonia}}'' often break the fourth wall, such as when the Chief of Hades tells Regret that "People in this game are rude." and to have an open mind.** One side-quest involves giving a fortune cookie containing a marriage proposal from a man to a woman in another town, but the woman accidentally eats the message. Regret comments that it's [[RealLifeWritesThePlot like this was actually a true story that happened to a member of the development team]].* In the game ''VideoGame/CastleShikigami III'' (full name Castle of Shikigami III), the characters sometimes break the fourth wall, such as Reika from Time Gal.** Reika also mentions the game ''Time Gal'', then asking the players.-->'''Reika:''' No arrows show up on the screen, so I don't know which way to go. Hey, don't you guys playing the game think so too?** And it gets more odd; Reika mentions THE PLAYERS, then TELLING THE PLAYERS TO POWER UP THEIR STRENGTH at the beginning of the last boss.* In ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans'', at the opening choice options screen on the mothership, if you fail to make a decision and leave the screen idle, Pox will sometimes say a random thing to you relating to the situation (i.e., "Well, it's your electric bill. You could have thought to turn the console off. Haven't you ever heard of global warming?" or "May I remind you that the name of this game is "Destroy All Humans", not SCREW AROUND IN THE MOTHERSHIP!").* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' there is an NPC that mentions the ever-so-wonderful Square button that has the power of teleportation.-->'''Housewife:''' With just a press of the Square button, you can come and go as you please... Ah, the wonderful Square Button.* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': Atlus published an ad in an actual Japanese newspaper, appearing as a CutAndPasteNote, that proclaimed "The Phantom" would appear at the February 2015 event that revealed new ''Persona 5'' footage. Sure enough, he ended up appearing, "shot out" the lights, and proceeded to reveal the very first gameplay trailer for ''Persona 5''.* This comes up a lot during the ''Franchise/SlyCooper'' franchise, with dialogue such as: "Bentley, how do I climb ladders?" "Simple Sly. Just press the circle button."* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' has a bizarre example during Neo's fight with Seraph, the bodyguard of The Oracle. It starts out like in the film, has them take the fight outside where they battle atop numerous wooden poles that are being lit on fire... and then takes them into the real world. No, not the "outside the Matrix" real world... I mean ''our real life world where the Matrix is just a work of fiction''. The two crash inside a movie theater playing actual live action clips of their fight scene from the ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'' even as the two continue to fight in front of the screen, with one movie-goer heckling the two the entire time.* One of the random P.A. announcements aboard stations in the ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X-Universe]]'' series is "Egosoft would like to thank you for buying their product." [[DontExplainTheJoke (Egosoft being the dev team.)]]* As a series about console wars personified, it's only natural ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' would break the fourth wall. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2mjcE_GGWQ For example...]]* VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising is guilty of multiple counts of fourth wall breaking; talking about various story cliches, referencing various other Nintendo titles as well as [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} its sister series]], and a literal case [[spoiler: after Chapter 9, where Hades tears through the fake credits.]]* The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VWsq1JXVWY End Poem]] you get in ''[[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} Minecraft]]'', after defeating the Ender Dragon, addresses you directly, even using your username a few times.* After beating ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' 2, if the player chose to play as Wan-Fu, he breaks the fourth wall by telling the player he doesn't have a story ending like the other characters in the game do. * The [=DigiPen=] student game ''Perspective'' does this rather spectacularly in its finale. [[spoiler:After escaping the Arcade into a meta-reality, the character escapes THAT meta-reality through a machine labeled "Perspective". From there, there are a series of portals that simply loop back on themselves. The only way to escape this is to pause and quit the game. The player is presented with their desktop, which turns out to be another set of screens in the game. One falls over, revealing another portal. You, ''yourself'', travels through the final portal, revealing the game's actual menu.]]* In ''VideoGame/LollipopChainsaw'', Juliet is able to see the bosses' info cards, and sometimes interacts with them (like responding to Zed being an animal abuser, or slicing through Vikke's info card).** There is an achievement/trophy for [[MaleGaze using the camera to look under]] [[DangerouslyShortSkirt Juliet's skirt]]. She covers herself as soon as you try to do it.* ''VideoGame/{{Grand Theft Auto III}}'' has a sign saying "you weren't supposed to be able to get here you know" in a difficult to reach location.** ''VideoGame/{{Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories}}'' plays on this by changing the message to "HELLO AGAIN!" with a comic smiley face and hug arms.* In ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'', one of the police combat lines is that "no one dies in Stilwater" perhaps referring to player "deaths" being a quick trip to the hospital.* In ''VisualNovel/TickTack'' Rin attempts to one up Mayumi by mocking her for not having a route in ''VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}''.* ''VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureHeritageForTheFuture''** Mariah does this in her ending, directly addressing the player.** Rubber Soul also does this, talking about how lucky he is and then asking the "bonehead" player if they agree.** Devo as well, in his ending where he threatens to curse the player next time.** And Black Polnareff, who decides the last person to be hacked to pieces...--->'''Black Polnareff:''' (jumping at the camera) [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou ...YOU!!!]]* ''VideoGame/ArTonelico3'' does this ''all the time.'' "Play more [=JRPGs=]!"* ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'' actually features exactly 100 {{Henshin Hero}}es. They make it clear that the 101st person referred to in the title is you, the player.* In ''VideoGame/JazzJackrabbit 2'', if Jazz was kept idle long enough, he would look at the camera and yell to the player, "Hey! HEY! Come on, let's go!"* At the conclusion of ''VideoGame/PanzerDragoonSaga'', the dragon reveals to its rider, Edge, that the dragon is not, as the other characters had until now assumed, [[spoiler: the 'Divine Visitor' who was prophesied to save the world. Instead, the dragon then turns to the camera and addresses the player by name (which they had entered back at the start of the game), stating that they, the one who has been controlling Edge's actions, are the Divine Visitor.]]* Commonly happens in ''VisualNovel/{{Rewrite}}'', as it often pokes fun at {{RPG}}s in a very meta way. For example, in one scene Kotarou starts telling himself about a quest Kotori set him on, and then informs the 'lazy bums in the audience' that not completing the quest won't affect Kotori's RelationshipValues. Later that night, a man comes to Kotarou in a dream telling him that he's the autosaver man and apologises for slacking on his job, telling Kotarou he's worried that the last couple of times the 'Autosaving!' sign came up in the bottom right-hand corner no saving actually occurred. This time, Kotarou is mystified and has no idea what he's talking about.* ''[=WazHack=]'' has messages scrawled on the walls at random intervals. Reading the one on the "fourth wall" to the right of the steam engine which controls the gnomish mine elevator gives you the text "'Thanks for voting for us on Steam Greenlight!' What's a Greenlight? What's voting?"* ''VideoGame/DinkSmallwood'' mods:** ''World of [=DinkC=]'' is about Dink trying to fix an error in the game code so that the world will go back to normal.** ''Escape'' is about Dink's struggle to escape the game after he realizes he's been getting deja vu.* One of the loading messages in ''Spandex Force'' is "Can anyone hear me? I'm trapped inside this game!"* In ''VideoGame/HeroinesQuest'', when you first meet Eitri the svartalf trader, he offers to trade for ''your mouse cursor'' then proceeds by grabbing it and clicking on several objects.* ''VideoGame/{{Tearaway}}'' is all about breaking the fourth wall, with game-play involving using the features of the Playstation Vita (the back and front touchscreens and the microphone) to directly interact with the protagonist's world.* In ''VideoGame/TheLastRemnant'', each character has a voice clip that plays when you check their stat window, most of which acknowledge that they ''have'' "stats" and you're looking at them.* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' mods:** In ''Beneath the Twisted Tower'' if you say no when the main quest giver asks if you're there about the job exploring the tunnels underneath the tower he asks why you downloaded the mod to begin with and urges you to say yes instead.** In ''Dreamcatcher'' the cook at a tavern in Waterdeep sends you to the cellar to fetch a bottle of wine and one of the possible responses is that your character shouldn't have to do such simple quests anymore because you're level so-and-so.* ''VideoGame/HotTinRoofTheCatThatWoreAFedora'': Franky will do this if Jones doesn't get the hints she's dropping about items, such as how to save or how flowers upgrade HitPoints.* If you save the game or load a previous save while playing ''Bedtime Story'', which is being told by a father to his young son, he comments "Sorry, son, I had to break mimesis for a second..."* Near the beginning of ''VideoGame/RandalsMonday'' Randal encounters a crazy bum who keeps insisting he's really a businessman. One of the possible responses is "Look, I hate to burst your bubble, but when I put the cursor over you it says 'bum'."* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': ** [[spoiler:Flowey]] is aware that you have the ability to save and reset the game, and he will remember and comment on choices you made in alternate timelines. [[spoiler: The worst ending has him note that some cowards would rather watch that ending on Website/YouTube instead of playing through it themselves.]]** [[spoiler:Sans]] is also aware of your ability to save and reset, but he doesn't have that power. This is why he's so lazy - everything he does will mean nothing when you reset the game.** The Lore of [[spoiler:Monsters turning into dust and humans persisting after death or returning to their SAVE points]] is actually a reference to the gameplay mechanics used in a LOT of games - when you defeat an enemy, they just disappear, often with a dust-like cloud, and if YOU die, you often respawn at a spawn point or the last place you saved.* Some characters in ''VideoGame/TokyoSeventhSisters'' comments directly upon the gameplay after clearing live stages, such as Mimori's request for a new high score or Ferb's comment that there were no misses.* During one level in ''VideoGame/{{Delicious}} 4: Emily's Taste of Fame'' Emily's best friend reminisces about their past adventures.-->'''Francois:''' We keep getting ourselves into these situations, don't we Emily?\\'''Emily:''' It must be the occupational hazard of being a game character.* ''VideoGame/DynamiteHeaddy'' has the title character and his rival Trouble Bruin showboating to the crowd of their puppet show on a regular basis, and continues take the form of the crowd chanting for Headdy to try again. It's not obvious as to whether they're aware of the other fourth wall, the one between the game and the player, though the developers break it with signs proclaiming "[[AwesomeEgo best]] [[SmallNameBigEgo game]]."* ''Boutalles'':-->'''Blanc:''' Who said I'm a newbie?\\'''Ashura:''' It's your title, we can all see it.* ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' and ''VideoGame/BravelySecond'' do this during the final battles, with the bosses' going so far as to accuse the player of toying with the characters. ** The final boss of ''VideoGame/BravelySecond'' even goes so far as to try and delete your save files, only for the characters to tell you never to give up.* ''VideoGame/HolyUmbrella'':-->'''Dondera Tank''': This is the [[GoldfishPoopGang fifth time I've shown up]]. If I didn't show some diversity, well... I thought the player might get bored.\\'''Emperor Dondera''': What!? Player?!\\'''Dondera Tank''' ''[pointing directly toward the viewer]'': Look! Over there! The one holding the controller, looking at us!\\'''Emperor Dondera''' ''[exasperated]'': Dumbass! You know we're not supposed to muck around with the fourth wall!\\'''Dondera Tank''': But...\\'''Emperor Dondera''': Enough already! You've already wasted more than enough of the player's time. Sorry about this, folks. We now return you to your regularly-scheduled game!* ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'' has some ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders''-like enemies that directly go after the 'Toads' {{Life Meter}}s and try to make off with pieces of them.* ''VideoGame/{{OneShot}}'' [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou takes this trope to a whole new level.]]** Both the game (through a persona called "the Entity") and Niko address you directly, ([[HelloInsertNameHere There's no Earthbound/Mother 3 style thing here, (at least early on, you can change it if you want.)]] [[INeverToldYouMyName the game just]] '''[[INeverToldYouMyName knows]]''') and at certain points the game [[spoiler:modifies your computer]] to either [[spoiler:add or remove game-related files]], and at one point even [[spoiler:changes your desktop wallpaper]].** The ending where you [[spoiler:shatter the lightbulb]] takes this even further: the game window itself shakes when [[spoiler:the lightbulb is smashed]], Niko [[spoiler:literally walks out of the game window down your desktop]] to [[spoiler:return home]], and if you try to start up the game after finishing, the game [[spoiler:doesn't even start up]]; it just tells you that [[spoiler:the savior is gone]] and closes itself.* Played with in ''VideoGame/UntilDawn''. Chapter breaks take place in the office of Dr. Hill, who talks to you about "the game you're playing" and asks you questions that alter the nature of Until Dawn's scares and atmosphere. The office in particular becomes darker and more frightening along the choices and fears of the player him/herself. [[spoiler:Or so it would seem. Late in the game, it is revealed that the person Dr. Hill has been talking to is Josh, and the office is a reflection of Josh's increasing instability from his mental illness and inability to cope with the loss of his sisters. The fourth wall was never broken; it was all roleplaying. As this revelation comes late in the game (and constitutes a significant spoiler),]] many reviews of the game played up this apparent "customize the scares" idea at face value, often with disapproval of the concept.* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'', the [[PhysicalGod Tribunal deity]] Vivec (cryptically and metaphorically) states in his dialogue and his ''[[InGameNovel 36 Lessons]]'' series that his "godhood" comes from realizing that he was in a video game and using that knowledge to edit the situation around him. He makes vague references to things like the PlayerCharacter ("The ruling king who only he can address as an equal"), pausing the game, console commands, and the Construction Set LevelEditor. His explanation on what happens if he should "die" also sounds a lot like reloading a saved game:--> '''Vivec''': "When I die in the world of time, then I'm completely asleep. I'm very much aware that all I have to do is choose to wake. And I'm alive again. Many times I have very deliberately tried to wait patiently, a very long, long time before choosing to wake up. And no matter how long it feels like I wait, it always appears, when I wake up, that no time has passed at all."* ''Saint's Row IV''. At times the game switches to the characters talking about producing a knock off movie based on the adventure you were just playing. Acting troubles. Production problems. Funding difficulties. Then you can play the knock off movie as if it was 'real'. The characters in the movie, written by your friends and allies, completely fictional, can then join you in protecting humanity. Saint's Row is more then just breaking the fourth wall. They invent entirely new walls and then bust them wide open. ** Also, for some reason, the President saves Christmas. Because reasons. * Many video games will have the character you're controlling salute you for succeeding at something: ** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' and the All-Stars remake of ''Super Mario Bros'', Mario and Luigi will turn to give you the V-sign every time you complete a level. ** In the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'', Donkey Kong will applaud you and give you a thumbs-up for succeeding at a bonus room puzzle or beating a boss monster while controlling him. ** If you pull off one of Dan Hibiki's ultra combos in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'', Dan will end it by giving you a thumbs-up and a TwinkleSmile. ** When you beat a boss monster in some ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games, Sonic or any other character you're controlling will salute you for succeeding. ----